Widow mourns loss of privacy to Hollywood
MCPO Ret. In TN sends a link to a local article from Tennessee about Ashley Edens, lovely widow of Army Specialist Jason Edens, whose private moment with the remains of her husband has been become another internet meme, one which she regrets. Jason was killed in Afghanistan last year in April and she was photographed grieving over his coffin and photographed by a Tennessee National Guard photographer. The photo has been falsely identified as one of actress Lea Michele mourning the loss of Glee actor Cory Montieth;
Ashley Edens was too upset to talk with us on camera about this story.
“She’s saddened by the memory being stolen from her, the time with her husband. Her exact words were, ‘They stole the moment with my husband,'” Jan Edens said.
Channel 4 News sent a message to the operator of one Facebook page that has posted the misrepresented photo, but they did not respond.
The soldier’s mother said she just wants the picture taken down, not wanting her son’s memory and his sacrifice diminished in any way.
“I don’t want his memory to be confused with someone else,” she said.
I see that some Hollywood news people are working, however weakly to correct the meme. The Tennessee National Guard weighs in;
While they say it’s unfortunate that picture has been misused, nothing can be done about it, because military photos are not copyrighted. They can be used by anyone.
Yeah, there quite a bit of difference between a widow mourning the loss of her warrior husband and some airhead grieving over the loss of her suicide-committing fiance who she probably would have divorced soon after the wedding anyway.
Category: Dumbass Bullshit
some airhead grieving over the loss of her suicide-committing fiance who she probably would have divorced soon after the wedding anyway.
He didn’t even commit suicide. He overdosed on booze and heroin.
I wonder if it was SSG Klika that took the picture. http://www.defense.gov/home/features/military_photographers/klika/
He’s the most famous TN guard photographer/PAO, due in large part to his work when 278th Cav was deployed to Iraq in 2004-05.
I blame the photographer and no one else. He (or she) alone is the one who should be crawling up to the widow’s house and begging for forgiveness. But, hell, it was THE MOMENT, I suppose–what a shot! It could mean a Pulitizer! Well, F him–or her–for taking the shot in the first place.
well I can understand why she may be upset. I think that guy was the only straight dude on Glee.
snarky comment above notwithstanding, what you see here is exactly what is wrong with America. Not only can Hollywood not participate in the fence of the station. They can’t even participate in the grieving of the losses.
note the stunning lack of apology from Michelle Lea for allowing this meme to continue.
Only douche Hollywood worshippers could possibly think that an American-flag laden coffin was “their” TV star.
@5 – I noticed the American flag, too.
Cory Montieth was Canadian, and never served in any branch of the military – neither theirs or ours.
Wow…..How can I say this delicately……that’s really, REALLY, fucked up…
One of the blogs that is using this picture. Int the comments are people who state that they are sure it is the TV star crying over her addict boyfriend. (As well as those that no better.)
http://wafiabdouss.wordpress.com/2013/07/14/exclusive-lea-michele-staged-her-crying-on-top-of-cory-monteiths-coffin/
This is why I hate mainstream media, TV and those Americans who get their news from E!, VH1 and The View.
How f#cking stupid are people anyway?
Do we really transport dead Canadian drug addicts in United States’ flag draped coffins?
This is another great example of two of my favorite quotes: It is the natural tendency of the ignorant to believe what is not true. In order to overcome that tendency it is not sufficient to exhibit the true; it is also necessary to expose and denounce the false.
No one in this world has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people. Nor has anyone ever lost public office thereby.
What do any of you expect from people whose entire world is bordered by the smartphone in their hands?
#3, I don’t necessarily blame the photographer for taking the picture. I do blame him for putting it anywhere other than in the hands of the grieving widow. She might have liked to have that picutre if it was hers alone.
As to anyone who thought it was Lea Michele and Cory whats-his-name, how stupid do you have to be to believe that a drug addict who never served in the US military would be in a coffin draped with a US flag?
@8–Throw in The Daily Show and the Colbert Report into that shitpile too.
For some low-lifes, widows are fair game, in a variety of ways. Hollywood types first among them.
My personal feeling is that whoever took the photo was out of line in the first place.
With you entirely, AC. Would go one beyond – s/he should have destroyed the pic to eliminate the evidence of having such a lapse in judgment.
On the other hand, why was there even a camera in the room? Whoever ordered it is just as culpable.
Well, I have an idea that might work. Since we are the premiere farm team blog and rain holy royal hell down on posers and impostors of the US military, we could take this head on and put an end to the meme. OR if we can take on Monkress and his best ever, butt buddy Wickre, putting the brakes to their finest phony, fraudulent actions then helping Mrs. Eden and her family squelch this should be right up our alley. Right?
#3: You really can’t blame the photographer, We don’t know what posessed theis person to take the picture. Was it a photo assignment, and what was it for? Generally once the image is taken, it belongs to the respective military branch. As a prior AF lensman, we lost control of the picture.
I do understand the concerns for the widow, cuz I feel the same way. In reality I would prefer the image was never taken, I guess cuz I don’t know the reason it was) JMHO
You had me until you’re moronic last sentence. You act like she’s the one who did and is low class. she didn’t make that. It’s a really sad thing To happen but don’t blame Hollywood for a meme. it’s some dumb kid who thinks its cool. But then again I guess that’s why this is just a blog.
Oh auto correct you bastard… Your
How was the photograper out of line? It is our job to caputre moments in time and history, good, bad or other thats our job.
If the photographer was out of line, was it then out of line to take Jackie Kennedy’s photo when she knelt at Jack Kennedy’s coffin on the catafalque in the Capitol?
Here is the original news story from 2012.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2139802/Portrait-widows-grief-Wife-fallen-U-S-soldier-weeps-coffin-arrives-Tennessee.html
Whoever swiped the image and said it was something other than what it is should have a quick lesson in what it means when he’s a jackass.
Ryan: you’ll have a point when Lea Michele comes out and publicly disavows this. Until then, she’s out of line. Bigtime.
Comcam: I’ll refer you to the words of Joseph N. Welch, counsel for the SECARMY, to Senator McCarthy at the Army-McCarthy hearings: “Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?”
Some moments are simply not meant for publicity without the consent of those involved, laws and copyright regulations be damned. This was one of those moments.
@19 It’s called DECENCY. It’s called keeping your intruding nose out of people’s private lives and very personal griefs. It’s called leaving people alone when they’re vulnerable, you miserable vulture.
I wish on you the opportunity to enjoy having your personal life exposed just as she did. Maybe you’ll enjoy it more — but I doubt it.
“It is our job to caputre moments in time and history, good, bad or other thats our job.” You can’t be serious. Do you think that you operate in a vaccuum, that decency has no place in your job? Is that it? Are you some sort of ar-teest who is unconstrained and unfettered by the impact on others of what you do? Is that what you were taught, to record whatever you want in the name of time and history? If so, go take a few saucy shots of your wife, girlfriend, or boyfriend and post them somewhere public. Go ahead and capture that moment.
To me this is a clear case of folks intruding somewhere that they simply have no business intruding. Oh, I understand that these days there are multitudes of folks who feel compelled to tell the world each time they fart, but that does not change the reality of grieving being something which family members should be allowed to do privately.
PH: I have been very uncomfortable with publishing pics of family members grieving for a very long time. Yes, I understand that expectations of privacy are very different for public figures than for the rest of us, and to some degree I would agree with that sentiment. But, even they should be afforded some privacy for some things.
So, to answer your question, PH, depending upon the exact circumstances of the taking of the pic, I am probably against it having been done. Now, if she (or other family members) gave permission for it to be done after she had been given sufficient time for her private expressions? That would be OK, maybe. I cringe every time I see photogs at funerals, or pics that they have taken.
This is just plain FUCKED UP! Since when does an actor who OD’s end up in a flag draped coffin and Lea Michele needs to come out at state that that was not her. Cold day in hell before that will happen though.
Personally, I have no problem with the photograph if considered in its original context. It’s a powerful image taken with both sympathy and skill. It’s also not as if a Tennessee National Guard photographer would likely ever be inclined to intentionally set a fellow guardsman and his grieving widow up for ridicule. The original photo was to honor the dead; it had no other function.
Nor does the widow, Ashley Edens, appear to have a problem with the original photo and its use. What’s she’s angry about, with a large measure of justification, is that some random anonymous twittertard re-purposed the photo in a way that it would be picked up by some penile implant at a celeb-deb gossip blog.
Where things seem to be getting confused here is in the difference between legitimate photojournalism, and its demented paparazzi cousin. Most ethical photojournalists would probably tell you that taking pictures of people caught up in emotional moments is one of the most difficult parts of the job, and you tend to be hyper-aware of the sensibilities of the folks involved. Not only because that’s the way you need to be to get good images, as well as the fact that you too are a human being, but also because if you get the sensibilities wrong you risk getting thrown out on your ass.
Paparazzi, on the other hand, don’t seem fazed by the prospect of an ass tossing. To them, it’s just more grist for the pathetic mill they call their version of what’s usually an ethical profession.
OIF ’06-’07-’08@25, are you forgetting the Governor Of New Jersey ordering flags at half staff for the death of noted resident/alcoholic/drug addict Whitney Houston?